Manufacture of boot and shoe heels



R. S..AYRES.

MANUFACTURE OF BOOT AND SHOE HEELS. I APPLICATION FILED OCT. 18.1916. 1,327,851, Patented Jan. 13, 1920.

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R. S. AYRES.

MANUFACTURE OF BOOT AND SHOE HEELS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 18. 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

V 9 viii 07 216 RICHARD S. AYRES, OF BROOKLINE, MASSACHUSETTS.

MANUFACTURE OF BOOT AND SHOE HEELS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 13, 1920.

Application filed October 18, 1916. Serial No. 126,425.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, RICHARD S. AYRES, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Brookline, inthe county of Norfolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in the Manufacture of Boot and Shoe Heels, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

My present invention relates to the manufacture of boot and shoe heels from pulpmaterial, and the object of the invention is a simple, practicable and economical process or method of manufacturing such heels.

In my prior applicatiom Ser. No. 31,865, filed June 3, 1915, now Patent Number 1,270,586, of June 25, 1918, describing my improved heel of a suitable pulp material, some of the important advantages incident to the use of such an integral molded heel for boots and shoes are fully explained, greatly simplifying. chea )ening and expediting the manufacture o boots and shoes. Such a heel consists essentially of a mass of pulp material such as leather scraps, leatherboard scra )s. paper? jute, hemp, cotton stocks, wood pulp or the like, beaten up and preferably mixed with a suitable binder and then molded and com )res'sed into substantially the form of a finished shoe heel, either with or without a solid leather toplift, which heel is light. strong, easily attached and capable of taking blacking, stain or other finish to match with the. upper material of the shoe. such a mass of pulp, however. and to shape it. mold and compress it, great difficulty has been experienced. The pulp'material must necessarily be beaten up in a considerable mass, together with a. great quantity of water or other solvent and numerous processes have been tried in the effort to take a proper mass of such pul eliminate the water, transfer same to molding appliances, whether for hand or machine operation, and to suitably compress and mold it. The pulp handling art has been heretofore developed to make and handle only such Ipulp into sheets or boards ranging from t in paper sheets to heaviest leather boards, which could be run through continuous carriers for the elimination of the water, or by dip ping molds into a mass of .ulp. No prior process was suitable or 'possl 1e 1n the taking up and manipulation of such large masses In the efforts to handle of pulp in predetermined extent for subsequent compression and molding into a shoe heel and it is the object of my present invention to accomplish this work. It will be ap preciated that the handling of a considerable mass of pulp material from the beater to and through successive dryin conveying, molding 'and compressing devices presents a highly ditlicult problem. While the pulp is in its moist and beaten up state in the beater, it is extremely sticky anddit'ficult to handle, while it is also practically impossible to subject as large a mass of pulp as must be handled for subsequent compression into a heel. until the water or moisture is eliminated. In order to make a practicable, non-laminated and integral heel it is essential that extremely heavy pressure be applied, compressing, unifying. and solidifying the entire mass and the priorprocess of running pulp through successive pairs of rolls for this work, are, of course, impossible in heel molding.

My process consists, essentially, in first beating up the pulp, from any suitable pulp material, to which a binder may be added when desired; then to take a mass of pulp from the beater and roughly shape or mold the same, thus having a predetermined mass for subsequent compression into the desired sized heel; this first shaped-mass is then subjected to suitable drying processes, either through direct exposure in the air or by means of a hot air current; then when suitably dried, so that the final compression will not show any further moisture, the mass is subjected to very heavy compression in suitable molds to impart the substantially finished shape to the heel. In such instances I may attach a solid leather top-lift to the heel after it is dried and just before subjecting the roughly shaped heel and toplift to the final con1press1on;--or where the final compression would be so heavy as to injure the solid leather toplift. the latter would be attached after the heel is otherwise molded into final shape. Vhile it is desirable to use a solid leather toplift in ordinary instances. "I contemplate the solidifying and compressing of the pulp heel to a suitable extent so that the bottom surface of the pulp heel itself will be sufiiciently wear-resisting to enable the completed heel to be used without a toplift.

' \Vhile my process may be carried out either by hand or machines, I have illustrated in the machine of the drawings an apparatus which is suitable for carrying out my process.

Referring to the drawings,

Figure l is a front view of an apparatus suitable for use in the manufacture of pulp heels according to my process;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail view of an intermittent driving mechanism;

Fig. 3-is a side view of the apparatus; and p a I Figs. P and are enlarged plan and ele- "ation views of a heel mold.

In carrying out the process I have illustrated an apparatus with substantially automatic pulp handling, shaping, drying, compressing and discharging means, assembled in suitable relation for the proper sequence of operations of the process.

The machine comprises a vertical support 1 carrying a rotatable work-holding table 2 resting on a collar 3 secured to the support and with a pairof brackets 4 and 5 at diametrically opposite points on the upper part of 1 the machine and at right angles thereto a corresponding pair of brackets or arms 6 and 7. The bracket arm 4 consists in a framework having an upper member 8 sup porting bearings 9 and 10 for a horizontal shaft 11 and a lower horizontal extending bottom respectively to support the receiving tank 17. This tank is intended to receive a mass of pulp after it has been suitably beaten up and mixed either with the addition of a binder or without. This tank also has a. feeding and stirring device consisting in a central shaft carrying blades 19 as illustrated in dotted lines Fig. '1, rotation of the said shaft being imparted by a bevel wheel 20 at the upper end, meshing with a correspondingly beveled wheel 21 on the end of the shaft 11. This serves to keep the pulp material suitably stirred up and to press and feed the same downwardlyinto a gate 7 or opening through the supporting bracket 16 and into a preliminary. mold or press 22.

To open and close the gate to the mold 22 and to impart a preliminary shaping or molding to the mass of pulp material, as well as to separate from the pulp a suitable amount for subsequent compression, I provide an intermittent feeding and com pressing mechanism, consisting in a rod 23 having at its outer end a cam roll 24: to engage the cam groove 25 within the wheel 13, said rod operating a gate plunger 26. Reci rocation of the rod 23 caused by rotation of the cam wheel 13 will-move the plunger to and fro within the mold 22, its upper part automatically permitting a predetermined mass of pulp to be forced into the mold by supported by an arm is also provided to conduct the molded mass downwardly into a drying and compressing mold mounted on the worktable 2 which worktable will be rotated in timed relation to the operation of the'cam wheel 13 so as to receive a partly molded heel from the mold 22. To operate the cam wheel 13 I provide at one end of the shaft carrying same a pulley (not shown) receiving power through a sprocket chain conventionally indicated at 31 from a pulley 32 mounted on a shaft 33 carried at the upper portion of the frame 8, and receiving rotation through a gear wheel 34 from a worm 35 keyed on the shaft 11.

The molded mass of pulp, thus compressed, is delivered to a suitable second mold mounted on a worktable 2, and which is in position underneath the chute 29 to re- 9 ceive the heel blank when delivered therefrom. The worktable 22 will be given an intermittent rotative movement and will carry a large number of heel molds, so that the operation of the apparatus will be continuous. Rotation of the table 2 will, eventually, bring the heel blank delivered from the chute 29 around into position under a press or plunger 36. During this movement the heel blank will be further dried and the water or moisture contained therein evaporated. 1 may also desire to conduct the heel blank through a drying chamber or tunnel to receive a blast of air or heated air, to complete the drying-before the final compression of the blank. I have indicated at 37, Fig. 3, in conventional outline a drying tunnel receiving ablast of air or heated air through a support and pipe 38 connected to a blower or any suit-able draftcreating appliance. The blank is then brought under the plunger 36 for final compressive action.

To actuate the plun er 36, I mount the same on a stem 39 which is adjustably secured to a slide 40, by a set screw 41, which slide is arran ed to reciprocate in a bearing through the Fug 42 carried by the bracket 5. A link -13 'is pivoted at 44 to the upper end of the slide and has its other end adjust-ably secured at 45 to an undercut groove 46 in a disk 47, said disk being carried by a shaft 48 mounted in bearings 50, 51, carried on the brace 52, at the upper end of the standard 1 and directly opposite the bracket 4. The shaftv 11 has a beveled gear 53 at its inner end and the shaft 48 has a similar beveled wheel 54 on its inner end, both these gears being arranged to mesh with a horizontal gear 55 carried on a vertical shaft 56 journaled within the standard 1, which latter is formed hollow for this purpose. Rotation of the gear 55 thus actuates the shaft 11 and the various instrumentalities associated therewith and also the ,plunger 36.

I prefer to rotate the gear 55 by a beveled gear 57, shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, which meshes therewith at right angles to the position occupied by the gear 53 and 54 as shown in Fig. 3. The gear 57 is carried by a shaft 58 mounted in suitable bearings on the bracket 6 and having at its outer end a pulley 59 belted to a pulley 60 near the base of the apparatus by a belt 61, which lower pulley 60 is carried on a shaft 62 in bearingsat the base of the machine, and has a power-receiving pulley 63 which may be connected with any source of power. Diametrically opposite the shaft 58 and carried on the bracket 7 is a corresponding shaft 64 having a beveled gear 65 also shown in dotted lines, Fig. 1, and receiving power from the horizontal gear 55. The shaft 54 carries a gear 66 meshing with a horizontal gear 67 mounted in a lug 68 on the bracket 7 and having keyed on its shaft one of a pair of intermittent gears 69 and 70. These gears are shown in enlarged plan view in Fig. 2. The gear 70 is secured to a vertical shaft 71 having at its lower end a gear wheel 72 with its teeth arranged to mesh with corresponding teeth in the eriphery of the table 2, so that the Workta 1e 2 will be given a step-by-step or intermittent rotative movement timed and controlled by the gears 69 and 70. This step-by-step movement is preferably sufficient to permit a halting of the Worktable 2 under the chute 29, to receive a heel blank, and under the plunger 36 to enable the heel blank to receive its final compressive action.

It will be appreciated that the gears 69 and 70 may be timed as desired and the speed of rotation of these gears may be reduced to appropriate extent by the intermediate actuating gears 66 and 67. The drivin gear 69 has its periphery solid for a portion of its circumference, as indicated at 74, on a circle shorter than that of its teeth, and the driven gear 70 has a proportional part of its circumference formed in a concave arc as shown'at to fit the circumference 74 of the drivin gear. The gears are thus meshed and w en the gear teeth are in engagement, a partial rotative movement is imparted to the driven gear 7 0, while, when'the uncut portions 74 and 75 are in mesh, the driven gear 70 is not rotated and in fact is held and locked against rota-- tion until the entire sector 74 has moved past the concave part 75. The wheel 69 is.

thereby permitted to be in continuous rotative movement while the gear 70 is intermittently rotated.

In order to receive the heel blank from the chute 29 and to enable it to be carried, dried and subsequently compressed under the plunger 36, I have provided a novel form of blank-receiving molds, illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5. These" molds comprise a pair of sections 76 and 77 having rearwardly extending arms 78 and 79 respectively which are pivoted at 80. These sections may be of any suitable contour to aid in imparting the desired shape to the compressed heel and preferably are open at the bottom and may also be perforated at the sides, as indicated at 81, 81, to facilitate the evaporation of the moisture therefrom. The pivot 80 may also extend downwardly into the table 2 to hold the molds in proper position. The heel blank being delivered into the mold-receiving space 82 is dried while the table 2 is moved step-by-step, additional drying being given while the mold passes through the tunnel 37 until the mold and its contained blank arrive under the plunger 36, when a further compressive action is imparted to the heel, while the worktable 2 is stationary and locked in position by the intermittent gears 69 and 70. The next movement of the Worktable moves the completely compressed blank out from under the plunger 36 and'nioves another mold and blank under the plunger 36. The completely compressed blank is then, preferably, automatically ejected" from the mold,- and I also prefer to openthe molds automatically for this purpose. In order to automatically open the molds I swing the same on the pivot 80 by means of a slide lever secured at 84 to the lower part of the table 2 and having a bolt 85 passing through a suitable slot in the table 2 and engaging the .ends of links 86 and 87 pivoted to 'theextreme end portions of the arms 79 and/78 respectively (see Fig. 4). A portion of the lever 83 has an inclined face as shown at 88 and'a post or trig er 89 sup orted ,by a brace 90 secured to t e standar 1 is arranged in position to bear against the beveled face 88 of the slide 83 during the rotation of the worktable 2. This action moves the slide 83 and bolt 85 to the rear, viewing Figs. 1 and 4, and thus opens the mold sections 76 and 77,. freeing theblank therefrom. A spring (not shown) will return the slide 83 to normal position and consequently close the molds in time for the same to receive the next blank as the mold arrives under the chute 29.

In handling a mass of pulp material such as shoe heels, it is often difficult to start the same from a mold and-even the opening of the mold sections will not always free the heel therefrom, as it is apt to adhere to one side or the other of the mold sections. Therefore I provide automatic mechanism to forcibly eject the heel blank from the mold, throwing it upwardly with sufficient impetus to force the heel entirely out of the mold and to free it from either section should the heel adhere to the sides of one when the molds are opened. To this end I have arranged a vertically reciprocatinjg rod 91 adapted to be actuated upwardly through an aperture in the worktable 2 under each pair of molds. This rod 91 has a stud 92 at its lower end in position to engage a cam path 93 cut in a cam wheel 94, which wheel is mounted on a shaft having its other end provided with a beveled gear 95 adapted to be driven in any suitable manner by geared connections from the main shaft 62. Rotation of the cam wheel 9:1 is suitablytimed so as to throw the rod 91 upwardly and downwardly during the intermittent stopping of the worktable 2 when the molds are successively in alinement with said, rod 91. A part of the support or frame 96 is extended upwardly to a slide bearing 97 for the rod 91, as clearly shown in Fig. 1. In order to aid the Worktable 2 in withstanding the pressure applied by the plunger 36 I have mounted a roller 98 in a bracket 99 at the front of the machine in position under the worktable 2. As a further support for the shaft 71, I also extend a bracket 100 sup porting, at its outer end, a block 101 as a support and bearing for the adjacent end of the shaft 71.

The operation of'the apparatus has been described in the foregoing, and my process of pulp-heel manufacture may be advanta eously carried out therewith.

, he pulp material being mixed in a beater engine is poured into the receiver 17, or the pulp material may itself be mixed in said receiver, but preferably a large mass is beaten up and then the receiver 17 filled from time to time. The pulp is kept beaten up and forced downwardly, being positively fed through the gate of the receiving tank 17 when the member 26 permits the same, as already explained, and a separated mass of pulp material is given its preliminary shape thereinand delivered intov the mold. This preliminary molding serves to force out a large amount of the moisture or liquid in a pulp mass, and the. heel blank is further dried before it is againcom ressed into its substantially finished form y the plun er 36. It will be appreciatedthat even a ter this final compression, the heel can be trimmed in the same manner as a leather heel, to have it conform still further to a style or size of shoe in which it is incorporated, butI gain considerable advantages in shaping'the heel at once to itsfinal form by having appropriately formed molds therefor.

' heel.

pulp material from the tank 17 tirough a 7( die which would give the form to two sides of the heel blank as well as the top and bottom, which material would be subsequently cut into proper lengths for each individual preparing a mass of fibrous pulp material,

then separating from said mass apredetermined amount, suitable for subsequent comresslon 1nt0 the slzed and shaped heel to v be produced, giving to said predetermined mass a preliminary compressing and shaping, then drying-said heel blank by removal of'substantially all moisture therefrom, and finally molding, compressing and solidifying said heel blank into the desired finished shape and size. v p

2. The improved process of makin integral molded boot or shoe heels whici consists first in preparing a mass of pulp material, then separating from said mass a predetermined amount of pulp material and subjecting it to a preliminary molding and shaping, eliminating a portion'of the water thereby, then air-drying said blank and then subjecting it to a final solidifying, compressing and shaping action by a relatively heavy pressure. 1

3. The improved process of making inte'gral molded boot or shoe heels which consists first in preparing a massof pulp material, then separating from said mass a predetermined amount of pulp material and refer to separate a mass of the This involves the preliminary shaping of the pulp mass and then a cutting of the mass so shaped into heel blanks in con- 

